Fourth-year head coach Matt Wells welcomes back 12 starters (O-9, D-3) and 38 letterwinners (O-20, D-15, S-3) from last year's team that finished tied for second in the Mountain Division of the Mountain West with a 5-3 record, and played in its school-record fifth-straight bowl game.

Along with handing out individual awards, a highlight video recapping the year was shown, as was a video honoring USU's senior class, which tied the 1962 senior class for the most wins in school history with 26.

Of its 52 academic all-WAC selections, Utah State had 18 student-athletes from football honored, along with 11 student-athletes from soccer, eight from both women's cross country and volleyball, and seven from men's cross country.

UTAH STATE: Very explosive and aggressive in the middle of the field, and very knowledgeable about the game... Moves well for his size.

2015 (SR): Was granted a sixth year of eligibility by the NCAA after missing the season due to injuries sustained in a car crash in June, 2015.

2014 (JR): Played in 14 games, making two starts... Finished the season with 35 total tackles (13-solo, 22-assist), including 2.0 sacks and 6.0 tackles for loss... Also recorded two pass breakups, two quarterback hurries, two fumble recoveries and two blocked kicks... Recorded a career-high six tackles at Wyoming (11/7) and had five stops against UTEP (12/20) in the Gildan New Mexico Bowl... His two sacks were against Tennessee (8/31) and Boise State (11/29)... Also had 1.0 tackles for loss against Arkansas State (9/20) and Hawai’i (11/1), and 0.5 tackles for loss against Wake Forest (9/13), Colorado State (10/18), New Mexico (11/15) and San José State (11/21)... His two fumble recoveries were against BYU (10/3) and UNLV (10/25)... Blocked extra points against both UNLV and Boise State, as his block against the Broncos was returned for a two-point conversion... Earned academic all-Mountain West honors.

2013 (SO): Played in 12 games and recorded nine tackles (3-solo, 6-assist), which included 2.0 sacks and 3.5 tackles for loss, to go along with two quarterback hurries and one forced fumble... Recorded a season-high two tackles against Weber State (9/14), San José State (/27), New Mexico (10/19) and Colorado State (11/23), and had one stop against Boise State (10/12)... Had one tackle for loss against both UNM and CSU, and 0.5 tackles for loss against BSU... Tied his career high with one sack against both New Mexico and Colorado State... Forced his first career fumble against CSU and had quarterback hurries against Hawai’i (11/2) and CSU... Earned academic all-Mountain West honors.

2012 (RS-FR): Played in all 13 games and finished the season with 10 tackles (2-solo, 8-assist)... Recovered his first career fumble against Utah (9/7)... Had a season-high three tackles against UNLV (9/29) and posted two tackles against Idaho (11/24)... Also had tackles against Southern Utah (8/30), San José State (10/13), New Mexico State (10/20), UTSA (10/27) and Texas State (11/3)... Earned academic all-WAC honors.

2011 (RS): Redshirted during his first season at Utah State.

HIGH SCHOOL: Earned Arizona Section II first-team all-state and first-team all-region honors as an offensive lineman as a prep senior at Liberty High School in Sun City, Ariz., as he recorded 80-plus pancakes/knockdowns, while blocking for a Lions’ offense that averaged 151.6 passing and 241.3 rushing yards, and scored 37.4 points per game... Earned second-team all-region accolades as a defensive lineman, registering 27 tackles, one sack and one pass breakup, in helping Liberty HS to a 9-2 record and a playoff appearance... Earned the offensive lineman MVP award at the University of Arizona’s camp.

PERSONAL: Son of Angel and Sharon Hernandez... Has two brothers... Graduated from Utah State in December of 2015 with a degree in management information systems and is currently working on his master’s in business administration... Married Alexis Hart in July, 2016... Last name is pronounced See-felt.